A poem from Mike the PoeT’s recently published “Letters To My City.” The book’s launch party is on Saturday, May 4, 2019.
I grew up in Los Angeles during the time of the Riots,
a city of love, a city of violence.
Suburban homes are seldom quiet
overworked parents, teenagers defiant.
I grew up in Los Angeles where latch key kids
handled their business, look over your shoulder
& don’t be a target,
a city of song, a city of sorrow
I grew up in Los Angeles watching Laker Championships
Magic Johnson, Shaq & Kobe Bryant
a city of love, a city of violence.
Magic visited patients at Daniel Freeman Hospital
one of them was my grandfather in 1984.
My grandparents grew up in Los Angeles
during the Depression & Zoot Suit Riots.
A city of compassion, a city of smashing.
I grew up in Los Angeles where sand drawn lines
defined the times of April 29th, 1992.
I grew up with a bridge-building crew aware of the chaos but focused on the payoff
a city of fire, a city of desire
My parents grew up in Los Angeles in the Age of Elvis & Eisenhower,
Surf Safari Endless Summer,
a city of memory, a city of mystery,
I grew up in Los Angeles with three generations of family
navigating the landscape to make way for me
I grew up in Los Angeles in the age of Reagan, Crack & Aids
a city of clubs, a city of drugs,
early adventures at UCLA began in 1992
out of the ashes of the uprising came the New,
a city of beauty, a city of duty.
I grew up in Los Angeles building unity through art, music & poetry
connecting communities with the word, a city of curves, a city of verbs,
I grew up in Los Angeles building bridges forming coalitions,
a city of visions, a city of decisions, a city of maps, a city of traps,
a city of machines, a city of dreams, a city of tracts, a city of facts,
a city of beaches, a city of teachers,
a city of Dodgers, a city of fathers,
a city of working mothers, a city of broke lovers,
I grew up in Los Angeles in the age of each other
a city to know, a city discovered
I grew up in Los Angeles during the time of the Riots,
a city of love, a city of violence.
The LAunch Party for Mike Sonksen’s “Letters To My City,” a book of poetry and essays dedicated to Los Angeles published by Writ Large Press, is on May, 4 from 6-8 p.m. in Boyle Heights. The event features readings from Sonksen, Besskepp, F. Douglas Brown, Steph Cha, Busstop Prophet and traci kato-kiriyama, among other writers. Peter Woods from Writ Large Press is slated to co-host.
Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist Center of Los Angeles
2707 E 1st St., Los Angeles, California 90033